Tuwaiq Academy – bringing ITIL 4 to students and employees in Saudi Arabia

Tuwaiq Academy – the first educational programme for advanced technology fields in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – is now a PeopleCert Academic Partner, delivering ITIL training to its students.

The institution trains 1,000 students per day on all aspects of technology with free-to-access courses spanning IT service management, cyber security, data science and digital manufacturing, quantum computing and drones.

The Academy is well positioned to support Saudi Arabia’s plans to become a technology hub. But currently there’s a skills gap, as demand for skilled professionals outpaces supply. The Academy’s strategy will help close the gap, with alumni expected to fill 25% of the Saudi Arabian labour market requirements by 2030.

All of the Academy’s courses are geared to helping people get jobs by providing knowledge along with practical experience. And this approach has helped it to reach the milestone of 1.6 million courses enrolled and 13,500 student interviews with employers. Many of the students who graduate enter roles in IT service management or cyber security, or enter roles in the region’s leading tech firms.

More recently, Tuwaiq Academy has recognized the importance of more practical certifications, such as ITIL. Employers are looking for practical skills as well as the subject-specific qualifications, as it gives them confidence that candidates’ knowledge can be applied in a work setting and that the students entering employment will make a difference to their organization quickly.

PeopleCert was selected as a partner because of its international reputation, and the Academy will provide ITIL training along with two-week boot camps which are now available to both students and organizations that want to improve their employees’ skills and knowledge.

As employers in the region are keen to keep their teams up-to-date with the latest technology and management techniques, the bootcamps are expected to be a popular choice because they are designed to help people get a certification without too much time away from the office.

Since the partnership, Tuwaiq Academy has added numerous PeopleCert courses to the line up, as part of its expanding programme of career-related learning.

Mark Hudson, PeopleCert Academia Manager said: “We are thrilled that Tuwaiq Academy has partnered with PeopleCert to offer our Business & IT certifications to students, enhancing their employer-focused courses. As part of this collaboration, Tuwaiq Academy provides ITIL 4 alongside other key certifications such as PRINCE2 7, COBIT 5, and Lean Six Sigma. With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 driving the demand for a highly skilled workforce, Tuwaiq Academy will play a crucial role in shaping the future talent pool.”

Abdulaziz Alhammadi, CEO at Tuwaiq Academy, said: “Since signing the partnership with PeopleCert in September 2023, we became an officially-accredited training centre, offering training for 10 professional certifications, the first of which were launched in June 2024.

“Since then, we have successfully launched three cohorts of students, with more than 400 graduating last year. For 2025, we are raising the number of graduates and launching our first two bootcamps to run alongside our programmes in April 2025.”